Magic Mountain, other Six Flags parks won't close in 2007

December 12, 2006, 11:27 AM ·
Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro made official today what we'd known for months -- that Six Flags Magic Mountain will remain open in 2007, and possibly, beyond. Shapiro told investors during a conference call that Six Flags has decided not to sell its parks on the market to real estate developers, opting instead to either operate the parks or to sell to another amusement park company.

That decision will be announced, Shapiro said, by the end of this month.

In other news, attendance is down at Six Flags -- no surprise given the chain's moves away from a deep discount strategy and to discourage unaccompanied teens in favor clearing the way to appeal to family visitors. One might have thought that the news Magic Mountain was up for sale would have encouraged people to make one last visit to the park. But instead attendance at the L.A.-area park is off double digits from last year's rate since the announcement, officials said.

But per-guest spending continues to rise, a very hopeful sign, and Six Flags is taking a page from Cedar Fair's book and offering cheap kids' tickets in an effort to lure parents to the parks. Look for a deal next year when parents who buy an annual pass can get a kids' annual pass free.

Replies (4)

December 12, 2006 at 11:37 PM ·
Like I've always said, they would be fools to sell Magic Mountain. Attendance down is expected given the moves made. As strange as it seems, attendance down may not be a bad thing for now as long as they can make up for it with guest spending. The parks need to be able to handle more guests, and things like ride capacity and park infrastructure need tending to.

December 13, 2006 at 5:18 PM ·
We are making our first trip to SFMM in June. I'm glad to know that it's still open. On another note, if attendance is truly down, I'm actually looking forward to it more than I already am, but not if it's at the cost of closing down the park. We're from Washington State and we don't have anything out this way that even resembles a theme or amusement park. We've always heard what an awesome park SFMM is, so the rumors of its impending sale and/or closure was disheartening.